Hit and Run Trial for Gerry Connolly

I wanted to wrap up this section of the Gerry Connolly Sucks series.  For those of you checking in now, check out Gerry Connolly Sucks Part 43 to see the video from when Gerry was charged with a Hit and Run, check Gerry Connolly Sucks Part 47 to see how he avoided a felony charge, and see Gerry Connolly Sucks Part 48 on how he was leading the search for a police chief while he was under indictment.   This post will be Gerry Sucks, Part 53.

Now let's get to the trial! Better known in legal circles as:
The Commonwealth of Virginia vs. Gerald Edward Connolly.  Case Number:  GT04089488-00.

This case started out different than many court cases.  There was no jury selection.  Almost every defendant going to trial requests a trial by a jury of their peers.  Of course, in Gerry's mind he has no peers- so a trial by jury would be impossible.

A special judge was brought in from Prince William County to hear the case.  Gerry pleaded Not Guilty.  (For identity purposes on the Summons, Gerry is 5 foot 8 inches tall and is 200 pounds).

I'll let the WaPo coverage take over from there:

"Judge Craig Johnston, ruling after a two-hour trial in General District Court with seven witnesses, acknowledged that Connolly's failure to realize that his red Toyota Camry had collided with a black Ford Explorer on International Drive the morning of May 14 "is perhaps subject to some incredulity on the part of many."

Correct.

"He said "there was certainly good reason" for Fairfax police to charge Connolly."

Indeed.

"But Johnston said the prosecutor did not prove that the county's top political leader purposefully drove away to a meeting after the accident."

WHAT???????

"Lewis Pfister, who was driving the Explorer, and his wife Karen testified that they immediately heard the sound of screeching brakes and knew they had been in an accident. "The sound was so loud that when we got out of the car [to see the damage], I was surprised" at how limited it was, Karen Pfister testified.

The couple said Connolly looked at them, then drove away, continuing through the green light at the corner of International Drive and Route 123."

Disgusting.  And this woman was pregnant.

Connolly, however, testified that he heard the Explorer's brakes screech and the driver honk but did not feel any impact to his car...He said he discovered a dent on the driver's side of his car the following morning.

By "discovered... the following morning" he means when the police came to his house and found the car they were looking for with a huge dent on the side.

But here's the most stunning part of how awful this judge was:

"Johnston, in issuing his not guilty ruling, said Connolly's "position and his duties have caused him to be oblivious to what is going on in his car."

Oh really?  So all elected officials can now get off from Hit and Runs because their positions cause them to be "oblivious" to what is going on in their car?  I've never heard anything so absurd and this judge clearly has no place on the bench.

Comments

George Allen's duties and responsibilities made him oblivious to what was coming out of his mouth....

I had never heard of any of this before. Thanks for educating us NLS.

[phaedrusmack]

I guess the next step is to see who is donating to the judges campaign tresury!

But more importantly it is a perfect example of a "politician" that believes he is more important than the law. This brings to mind the exact thinking of Larry Craig, he is a U.S. Senator who thought he was above the law. We all know the story. Laws are there to protect all citizens. If one is in the wrong one should take the responsibilty and whatever the penalty is to rectify the transgression. Not run away and hide behind position or self importance.

Congress is full of these kind of people. They only serve themselves and their buddies of like minded self importance.

This guy should not be a candidate for anything.

Thanks NLS for posting this and keeping all citizens informed of the character of elected officials. Good or bad.

[Not Gerry]

11 MORE! Loving this focus.

[Reston Libertarian]

Make sure you get the legal procedure down before you make your readers defend Gerry Connolly against their better judgment.

The Commonwealth's attorney decides the charge to bring. Misdemeanors are tried in the General District Court [GDC]. Felony probably cause hearings are held in the GDC. Most state criminal matters must go through the GDC. There are no juries in the GDC. G. Connolly had nothing to do with the choice of trial by jury.

It is common practice for the entire bench to recuse itself in situations involving sitting legislators, and attorneys who practice before that Court. It is so common that there is a standard procedure for obtaining a judge from outside the jurisdiction, that is overseen by the Supreme Court of Virginia. If you think G. Connolly has significant influence with the Supreme Court of Virginia, you've lost your mind.

I have personally appeared before Judge Johnston and found him to be incredibly diligent and insightful.

The burden of proof in criminal matters is beyond a reasonable doubt. This case was probably a close question based on the facts presented.

Isn't there something else in va politics to blog about . . .

RL points out exactly what I was about to point out, before I scrolled down to make this comment.

These posts are hilarious when Ben gets up in arms about something like Gerry not having a jury in GDC.

Also, to phaedrusmack, let us know when you've located the judge's campaign treasury. What you, can't find it? You mean we don't have elected judges in VA? First I've heard of it.

[Not Larry Sabato]

I said before- this should have been a felony charge and the people of Fairfax should have been allowed to decide his guilt or guilt.

FWIW - Judge Johnston was one of the GDC judges getting praised on the blogs last year for striking down an abusive driver charge. He found a student wasn't a permanant resident and, therefore, not subject to the additional fine.

[phaedrusmack]

Stand corrected. Thanks for pointing that out.

One should learn from their mistakes. Unlike self important politicians.

Who was the prosecutor on the case?

Did the Commonwealth's Attorney recuse themselves like the judges?

[Reston Libertarian]

The newspaper article may be the most information we learn about the prosecutor.

The actual prosecutor was probably a lower level public servant who had no orders and no ethical obligation to recuse him or herself. The decision of what to prosecute and whether the commonwealth's attorney in Fairfax should recuse itself was probably made high up the food chain (if they made a decision at all). The matter may have simply been handled the same as any other matter by the Commonwealth's attorney office.

Judge's have a lot more discretion in when they recuse themselves.

We should all applaud the maturity of phaedrusmack in acknowledging and learning from a mistake. He or she clearly has too great a sense of personal responsibility to be chairman of the Board of Supervisors . . .

"I said before- this should have been a felony charge and the people of Fairfax should have been allowed to decide his guilt or guilt."

The point, Ben, is that you have no idea what you're talking about. Regardless of whether or not there SHOULD have been a felony charge, there wasn't so there wouldn't have been a jury trial. That's what makes your posturing and ignorance so infuriating and specious.

Addendum to above: it's all just my opinion. But it's a fairly good opinion, I think.

[Interested Observer]

"I said before- this should have been a felony charge and the people of Fairfax should have been allowed to decide his guilt or guilt."

I'm sure the Commonwealth's attorney would be pleased to hire an aggressive go-getter like you to pursue criminal matters. A review of your (politically-motivated) prosecutorial suggestions on this blog would be most useful to attach to your extensive legal and educational resume.

[Interested Observer]

Oh, I missed this the first time through:

"...decide his guilt or guilt."

glad they get two choices....

BEN....STFU....

[Loudoun Insider]

Connolly is a piece of shit - what's new? And NLS supported this "disgrace to humanity" against Gary Baise. What partisan blinders.

[Interested Observer]

Don't worry, after early June, NLS will be supporting Gerry again...

I just got my tenth mailer from Gerry. The thing I have against him is that, unlike many other candidates, he doesn't seem to have the blue collar touch. He doesn't seem to get out and knock on doors. But he spends a lot of money on the glossies, probably TV, etc.

I have mixed feelings about his ability to rant. It is a little refreshing not to have someone who is excessively slick. Gerry isn't slick. In a tough fight, I suppose you like him when he is in your corner and don't when he isn't. The problem is that he is like that all the time....whether there is a tough fight or not. Too bad he didn't fight harder for the tunnel....

He'll be fine in Congress though, then we can replace him on the Board of Supervisors.

[IP]

Ben again shows the world how utterly ignorant he is of Virginia's legal system.

You point out that Gerry chose not to have a jury as if that's some incredible circumstance. It's GDC, dumbass. Every trial in GDC -- criminal and civil -- is a bench trial.

Judge Johnston is an outstanding judge, and I hope you get pulled over in PWC someday, and get the chance to shrivel up like the worm you are when you stand in his court.

Punk.

[Timothy Watson]

It's a long line of legal blunders made by Ben.

What I want to know is why Gerry was prosecuted at all when he runs the Commonwealth's Attorney's Office according to Ben (GC Sucks, Part 50) and Blueweeds.

So why did you vote for Gerry after all this, Ben? Maybe you, too, were "oblivious."